This is one of the most touching thing someone had said to me. Just wanna write in here in case i lose this. Also, to share it with everyone out there. :) You may not know her personally, you may not be her student. But read this in an outsider point of view. You will be touched, on how much effort she dedicates into her job, how much love, care and concern she shows us, when we are merely her students and have no blood relation. Touched my heart deeply, really.

Dear econistas,

You know what? I have been wanting to type this email for the longest time ever ever but I just couldn't find the words, the time and the emotions (much less the atmosphere)! Term 3 was crazy, with just 6 weeks of teaching (minus the school and public hols). On top of that, students/teachers had to balance PW, CCA, tests, assgts AND the pressure of getting promoted. If you were to actually look back, Term 3 was absolutely crazy. As such, I was too tired to find time to type this email. Even when I have decided to type this email, I have made the choice to stash away the unmarked essays. But I figured out that I should not procrastinate anymore, to share with you how I feel about your class.

0718, I wish to applaud you for trying hard to match up to the challenges and rigours of Term 3's academic life. We have to be realistic, that not all of you are endowed with excellent grades for the Mid Years. From my encounters with some of you, I could sense desperation, frustration and a sense of helplessness. Some of you also have a sense of 'Should I throw in my towel now?'

But for the past 10 weeks, you have been making steady progress. Each one of you seem to be more confident of answering essay questions, of analyzing what the question requires, of sharing your comments and questions with me. Each one of you have taken an ownership of learning.

You know what touches me through and through? That you simply don't give up when the going gets tough. Come on, let's face it... how on earth do you understand what a 2-liner question is asking for? How on earth do you know that you need to define key words? Also, sometimes, these questions require you to read in-between the lines! Wow... how can a 17 year old comprehend all these?

But yet 0718, you did not give up. You gave each piece of assignment your best effort, your best love, your best dedication. It's arduous to write essays but yet, you still gave it your all. It's arduous to write essay outlines, but yet, you still managed to do so and deliver it into my pigeon hole. And you did all these amidst the other deadlines you have to meet for your other subjects. Kudos to 0718!

0718, if we were to take a record of what we had done, inclusive of the 2 common tests, we have written a total of 10 essays and essay outlines. Which means... in 1 week, you have written 1 3/7 econs assgts! That is definitely a commendable feat by all of us! Shouldn't we deserve a great pat on our backs?

With all the hardwork, 0718 has also made tremendous improvements. From the 1st essay test you had in Term 2, you had an average mark of 8.5/25. But in the recent essay assgt, 0718 scored a remarkable improvement of 15.6/25! Shouldn't you be proud of this achievement?

At this juncture, I wish to tell you how proud I am to be teaching your class. I am proud because 0718 is a resilient class, never refusing to give up and continuously putting in their best effort towards Econs. I am proud that 0718 always give a smiling face during Econs. Your smiling faces never fail to make me smile.

Even though I'm tired and sometimes, I seem to appear to be teaching for the sake of teaching, I wish to let you know that I see the potential in each one of you. It doesn't matter how poorly you have performed in Economics. What matters is wheter you want to do something about it and how hard you want to work for it. And it's precisely the desire to do well that drives me to keep going, for all of you.

Thank you for giving me the satisfaction of teaching your class. You are my little rabbits which I wish to hug so tightly. *muacks*

For the next 3 weeks, it is going to be a constant battle between the mental and physical selves. Physically, you could be drained out, too tired out to revise, too lethargic to hit the books. Mentally, you could be too stressed to concentrate. But I urge you to capitalise on the spirit of 0718 - resilience. Tell yourself not to give up and keep trying. Tell yourself that I will not throw in the towel yet. Tell yourself that I will put in my best effort all the way until the final paper itself.

Don't give up. At the end of the day, what matters is about how you struggled against the odds, persevered through all the stresses and come out alive. When you look back, you will be so amazed at how much you had gone through and be so proud of yourself!

This is the last lap, econistas. And I hope to see you run it well. I can only prepare you to run this lap well but I cannot run it for you on that day. I hope to see 22 brave souls giving all their best in this last lap. And even though I can't run the race with you, I will be running along with you spiritually and mentally. I will be praying for you and urging you to persevere and to give it your all.

Once again, rabbits, I truly believe in your potential, and how very special you are! Keep going yah?

Love lots and take care,
Ms Hazel



Dear econistas!

A week just flew by like that! And before I know it, my long awaited short break is here before I plunge into my marking next Thursday onwards!

Seriously, for the past two weeks, I wasn't having it easy. I had planned my revision schedule different from the other tutors and I was anxious whether I was leading my class on the right track. I was also ultra stressed cos I had two essays from my H1 and H2 classes to mark. And at the same time, I had to prepare the essay outlines for the timed practices, prepare the feedback for the star essays, prepare for the extra classes and on top of that, settle departmental stuff and other outside commitments.

I was so worried that I couldn't finish marking all my scripts, just as all of you are worried that you cannot finish studying for the exams! It was so bad that I couldn't sleep properly at night. I went to bed anxious that I cannot finish marking my essays and had funny dreams at night. So it was endless marking and marking, all the time for me. Whenever I had a break, I would mark and mark.

Finally, my marking load has stopped (for the time being!) and your mugging load should be accelerating.... hahaha.... it's quite cute to see marking and mugging has a negative relationship! (Applying case study skills here!)

But seriously people, I got to say that I wouldn't have made it through the past 3 weeks (including Term break) without you. You gave me the strongest motivation to keep giving, to keep going, no matter how tired I am. Thank you for giving me the herbal drink. It tasted sweet (Yes, I finally drank it after preserving it for almost 2 weeks!). Thank you for looking for me for consultations because by the fact that you have questions, showed that you are interested to do well in Econs. Thank you for writing extra essays for me to mark. It gave me motivation to write more detailed comments on how to improve in your essays. Thank you for turning up for my extra lessons. Even though these lessons were meant for students who really needed an extra help, other students still turned up repeatedly for these lessons. The best source of motivation was the last week of extra class when I had so many students that we had to migrate to the AVA Room! I didn't show it but I was really happy at the level of enthusiasm and dedication my students have for Econs! Another indication was the sign-up list for the H3 course! My classes registered a high number of students who are interested about the course. Nevermind about the high crtieria! It's the interest level from you that makes me so motivated and happy! You may not know it but all these little things do count a lot to any teacher. =)

I guess people, the time has come now, when the onus is on you, to take FULL OWNERSHIP of your learning, application, analysis, and evaluation. I have given you my all and all, given you till the point where my family time is sacrificed. I have almost furnished you with all the necessary information and skills. Now is the time for me to get off from the driver's seat and for you to take the front wheel. It's time for you to drive, to take the lead how you should do for Econs.

People, I guess from my past life experiences, I have experienced situations where I felt "I should have gotten that but I got denied of that opportunity". That is why, I resolve to give opporunities to my students to shine, to let their potential develop in my class. I try to make the boundaries as permeable as possible to give you the opportunity to develop and shine. And that's why I always emphasize on the point of doing your best, giving your very best and handing in quality work. I believe that how much we can do, what we can possibly achieve, lies mostly in our hands. Of course, for those who have a religion, we cannot rule out the Almighty works of God in our lives. But the point being, whether we want to do better (take note: not excellent), lies mostly in our hands. And that gives us the open window to do much better than what we thought ourselves to be.

And that's why I refuse to give up on anyone of you. I believe that if you keep on trying, you may just make it one day. It make take longer for some; shorter for some; but if you keep on trying, you will just make it through, one day.

Come Monday, each of you will have this race to complete. I hope you will run it well. I hope you will run all the races with your fullest stamina. I hope you will give all your papers the best effort you possibly can.

And yes, on Thursday, 27 September, from 8 to 11am, I really hope all of you will give it your all for the Econs paper. We have definitely come a long way, from Econs journals, MANY essays, outlines, timed practices... THIS IS THE TIME TO SHOW NYJC HOW WE CAN ROCK THE HOUSE. We can and we will rock NYJC at how much stamina we have, at how much effort we have put in, at the amount of interest we have for Econs.

At the end of the day, I would be lying if I say that results do not count at all. Yes, results do count to me but it is definitely of secondary importance. What's of primary importance, is to see each one of you striving to achieve your own maximum welfare. That's the most important thing for me. I really hope to see each student putting in their best effort so that when you receive your results, you can then say,"Yup, that's my best." It doesn't matter whether you failed or passed. Even if you did fail, it doesn't matter to me as long as you have tried your very best. Remember this k?

So I went to church today, and this is what I prayed for... That all of you would have the wisdom to study and understand what are important, that you would have the mind capacity to remember your stuff, that you would gain confidence in Economics, that you will have the stamina to keep going, that you will not give up on yourselves and that you will continue to put in your best effort. I will always hold you in my special thoughts and prayers.

Anyway, in a few hours' time, I'm off to KL. I really need this short break with my family, to make up for the time I wasn't with them and to take a breather from the busy terms. So pls... would greatly appreciate it if you don't sms/ call me so that I can go travel, shop, pig out, relax, sleep in peace and ultimate bliss. But you can email me! Or on sunday evening onwards, book consultations with me!

So till then, be a good econista and student! Mug hard while I play hard! Eat more healthy food, drink more water while I pig out in KL. Try to ensure an adequate amt of sleep (I suspect in this case, it's underconsumption of sleep) while I have an OVERconsumption of sleep. Relax by having your friends massage you while I will go book an appointment with my foot reflexologist next week for a good massage! Make full use of your eyes where books are concerned while I will utilse my eyes to its maximium capacity by watching lots of (crap) TV shows, movies and computer stuff! Hee hee... enough said! You will have your turn when your promos end!

Take care all and just to let you know, you are always in my thoughts.

Love lots,
Ms Hazel


I swear it made me teared, a little. :)